PREDATE

A foothold trap would do nothing except snap shut when you lift your foot. At most it might clip onto the tip of your boot, but not likely. I've had trespassers step in my sets on purpose and I've had a trap catch my fingers while setting it. The ones you don't want to get caught in are 330 conibears, but they cannot be set on land, only in water. The instructor at my trapping course told us about a woman who was an anti-trapper and how she thought she'd show the trapper that she meant business by kicking their legally set 330. LMAO HAHA!!! Oh BTW, it's very much illegal to harass a trapper or to mess with a trap/animal.

I've had alot of heartache using duke #2's without inline springs. The yotes will pull out! Springs will help. As will center plating to attach the chain from the middle of the trap frame. Offset jaws will also help hold them. If you're able to weld, it would be wise to laminate or bubble tip the jaws. 3 crunchproof swivels on the chain is standard setup nowadays.

styk- are you still in the tree? lol The bear wont hurt ya

If you have your trap bedded rock solid and have the dirt hole deep and at an angle, you can get away with little to no backing. It would then be almost like a flat set. Your sets look quite believable. Just think what a dirt hole is simulating. A hole where a yote or fox buried some food, so there may or may not be grass covering the bare dirt. Little stones get dug up too so you can even replace your guide sticks with a small stone or even a few little feathers in your pattern.

Very nice Dave! I was watching a Goshawk last weekend hunting around my stand. Wish I had my camera

Looks good! I've done good with hay sets and scent post sets too.

Don't forget to take into account for the leaves dropping and covering them. I saw peak scrape activity 2 weeks ago and still going fairly strong. Just like what cabin fever touched on, this is varied from each of my spots. Some places just a couple miles away are seeing less than normal scrape/rub activity.

The DEP may have different regulations for certain areas, but shotgun only usually gets thrown out the window after deer season.

I have always said that if you keep the girlies(doe) at ease, then the rut will be an awesome time. When a buck has love on his mind he'll somewhat forget about your presence.

Nope! lol I have noticed a decrease in scrape activity, but that can be an indication of a doe or 2 having already came into estrous. The bucks are actively searching now

Saw a deer skirting me 400yds out so I decided to quickly relocate. Baaaad move. I go 70 yds and walk up face to face with a 3.5 gnarly 8pt. only 20yds away. If I would have stayed put he would've walked right to me. Went to another spot and busted 3-4 deer 40 yds from the vehicle. Oh well, Dunkin' coffee was calling my name anyhow. Gonna regroup and hit another spot for the PM

They look awfully similar. I'd say it's the same buck.

It's never too late, but at this point it might not do any good. Bucks are gonna be traveling far and wide. Here today, gone tomorrow. Like renegade said, it won't hurt anything to get in there. Since it's your property, you probably already know where the does like to hang out/bed/eat. A wise man would set up in a pinch point near these spots overlooking a heavy deer trail and hunt!

First day of the season that I'll be able to hunt all day. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that!

I like to still hunt in the rain. I'd say hang tight, ya never know

Hey we all make mistakes, these ones are avoidable though. You should have received a copy of the 2013-2014 hunting & trapping regulations guide when you purchased your license. They usually have a stack of them at the license counter. I'm sure if you stop by they would let you have one. Oh by the way, I don't have a 3n. Just wanted to try to help you out and prevent you from landing in trouble. Good luck

Here ya go. All rookies need to study this before they even consider walking out in the woods. It could save you some hefty fines and/or incarceration.http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/37136.html You should've gotten one with your license anyways, so let there be no excuses.

That's advisable practice, but not a requirement. Some guys even put a note on their vehicle. I personally have never been bothered by law enforcement and I night hunt for yotes from October to March.

Can you cook? lol just kidding, welcome

Hope you get feeling better. Still plenty of time left, don't sweat it

So coming into our house and telling people to F**k off is the way to go? Please don't make us send Biz and Shawn to your door!

pumped huh? With the deer down, you can hit the gym early! lol Congrats on the 8

If there is only a practice tip on the arrow, then It stands a better chance in surviving. Did the arrow look like a kids toy with orange and yellow feathers on the back of it? I see those all the time

Trapping is cool, but it takes time and patience. You could check out some youtube videos, there's even a trapping show on the Pursuit channel called F & T's North American Trapper. I'm also a member of NYtrappers forums. It's a good site with alot of helpful guys over there

^^Exactly^^ With the warm October temps and the fabled "October lull" just ending, it doesn't surprise me that you haven't spotted the big boys yet. With the ladies coming into estrous, you can bet the bucks will be cruising the doe bedding areas. Don't lose hope. If you keep tabs on the does, the bucks will be along sooner or later.